New Delhi [India], May 16 : BJP leader and Vice Chairperson of the Uttar Pradesh Women's Commission, Aparna Yadav, on Friday slammed Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav over his controversial remarks on Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Air Marshal AK Bharti.
The BJP leader demanded an unconditional apology from Ram Gopal Yadav and the INDIA bloc, stating that their derogatory remarks are unacceptable.
She pointed out that the country is in the 21st century and that the internet age has made it impossible to hide or alter information.
Speaking to ANI, Aparna Yadav said, "...His party, the INDI alliance, should give no excuse but apologise unconditionally. Many of the leaders of the INDI parties have made derogatory remarks. We are in the 21st-century India, and the country understands everything. We are living in the Internet age. How can he think that his statement was altered.."
The controversy surrounds Ram Gopal Yadav's comments on the Indian Air Force's leadership, specifically targeting Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Air Marshal AK Bharti.
Meanwhile, Ram Gopal Yadav defended his caste-related remarks on Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, referring to many cases of atrocities against minorities, Dalits and backwards classes in north Indian states, especially Uttar Pradesh.
Taking a dig at UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who labelled his remarks as "casteist", Yadav said that the CM, under whose nose the atrocities are committed, reacted to his statement without even listening to it. He also ridiculed the media channels, saying nobody except the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) trusts them.
"I am surprised that the Chief Minister, under whose nose unimaginable atrocities are being committed on minorities, Dalits and backward classes, tweeted without even listening to my entire statement. I have no complaint against the media channels that have taken over Islamabad and Rawalpindi because no one except the ruling party trusts them," Yadav posted on X.
The SP MP clarified that he was making a point about people with "corrupt mentality" that those who "abused" Colonel Sofiya Qureshi based on her religion would have abused Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Air Marshal AK Bharti, had they known their caste location.
"In some states of North India, particularly Uttar Pradesh, false cases are being filed against people based on religion, caste and class. Encounters are being carried out based on caste and religion. Property is being seized by declaring them gangsters on the basis of caste, religion and class. Women are being tortured on the basis of caste, religion and class. Postings of employees and officers are done on the basis of caste, religion and class...," Yadav said.
"I had made statements about people with such corrupt mentality in a programme yesterday, stating that Colonel Sofia was abused because she was identified by her religion, Foreign Secretary Mistry was abused, if these abusers had come to know that Vyomika Singh is Jatav and Air Marshal Bharti is Yadav, then they would not have refrained from abusing these officers also," he added.